The 2021 Car & Driver Electric Vehicle of Year, the Mustang Mach-E, was recently put to the test. Ford’s first all-electric vehicle was subject to torture tests to ensure it can withstand daily driving conditions, including extreme car washes and powerful sprayers as well as robotic butts.
Nearly 27% of Americans aren’t sure if electric cars can be driven in the rain or go through a car wash. The team at Ford in Dearborn Michigan Proving Grounds used their onsite automated car wash to prove that the Mach-E can be thoroughly wet and withstand the abuse of consumer washes. Ford put the vehicle through 60 passes in a harsh, automatic conveyor wash that included sprayers, brushes, and dryers.
Ford engineers studied varying weight loads on the seats using a wide range of human body types by programing a robotic “butt” form to simulate a person getting in and out of their Mustang Mach-E – at least 25,000 times. The robot butt tests everything so that customers can rest easy knowing their ActiveX seats in the Mustang Mach-E will withstand daily wear.
Lastly, Ford engineers then put the Mustang Mach-E through 300-miles of stone-chip testing on gravel roads to determine whether small rocks could cause damage to its body paint. Ford engineers tested two types of gravel stones with professional drivers who fishtailed Mustang Mach-E at 60 MPH for almost 200 miles to ensure durability.
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